The "Petrohan" case shows many dysfunctions in our institutions. What we observe in terms of communication is disastrous. The way in which communication has been conducted since the very beginning of the case is extremely unprofessional. The victims' families were allowed to be literally publicly lynched - this is far from any notion of professional communication. This was stated in “Hello, Bulgaria” by the director of the “Security” program at the Center for the Study of Democracy Atanas Rusev.
According to him, the other big gap that was clearly visible was the coordination between institutions regarding children at risk.
"We see signals submitted two or three years ago, then a second, third one appears. The investigation and coordination between institutions reach a dead end. It is transferred from one institution to another without real consequences," he pointed out.
For his part, psychologist Ivan Igov emphasized that one of the questions he asks himself is what exactly happened outside the "pure sect that existed there".
"For me, things are almost clear. I have been observing various sectarian associations for many years and all the typical signs of them being a sect are present. First of all, there is a guru, this lama Kalushev, who claims to have discovered a truth that stands above everything else. He has followers - this narrow circle of four men his age who support him, travel with him, including to Mexico and other places. There are also students who are attracted by the message: “We know something great and we can tell you about it“, he explained.
And he added: “The sect has an isolated place where it separates itself from the others, surrounds itself, has weapons, dogs. There is also the spirit of messianism: “We are the initiated, we will tell others the truth about life“. All these elements are there. This is a mystical sect,”, the expert is categorical.
According to Rusev, the authorities could obviously have done a lot. From the leaked information and testimonies, it became clear that the GDBOP invited one of the witnesses to validate his testimony by bringing another eyewitness. "This doesn't sound logical - is it his job to look for other victims? Many people have gone through their school of "adventure". And in the end, the witness must prove his signal himself", he pointed out.
And he expressed hope that with the arrival of the new government, more active work will be done to verify all documents.
According to the psychologist, this group has built a wide network of dependencies. And he gave an example of other international scandals in which dependencies are created through compromising material. "Theoretically, it is possible for vulnerable people to be used for pressure. But these are hypotheses,", Igov emphasized.